The Expedition of Runeterra
by Rushing Rasputin
Summary: Salazar Biachenko, Enginseer Explorator, finds himself and his men on an unchartered planet known to the locals as Runeterra. Follow the travails of Salazar and unravel the future of Runeterra. The Omnissiah protects. Rated M for gore, violence and bloodshed. Expect somewhat frequent updates.
1. Prologue: The Beginning

"Warp drive unstable, engine damaged! What is your command my lord?"

The perilous travel through the localized warp storm has damaged the freighter's warp drive and engine, diverting it to an uncharted planet of the galaxy instead of the intended space hulk. As their vox channels are short ranged they are effectively cut off from the Explorator Fleet. With the engine damaged and the warp drive overloading, Salazar Biachenko only has two options: they either attempt a landing and risk being stuck on the planet forever, or try and stabilize the warp drive that may result in a catastrophic explosion. Both cases were extremely perilous, and he quickly weighed in the options.

 _Even if we somehow manage to stabilize our warp drive, it will still be damaged and will be incapable of large warp jumps. We also have no effective way of determining our location and any attempts of long range communication are futile. On the other hand, attempting an emergency landing on the planet will render our craft inoperable afterwards. However there is an off chance that civilization thrives that might allow them to create a beacon to contact the fleet._ He thought to himself.

"I guess I don't really have a better choice." He said aloud. "My fellow adepts, prepare the ship for planetary emergency landing. May the Omnissiah protect us. "

The tech-priests had to cut the main power to minimize the risk of explosions and fires, meaning that the grav-pads and the engine will not be functional; however, the Maximus Crusade was a heavy assault freighter, designed for quickly deploying a company of troops from orbit along with all their war gear in the thick of enemy fire. Salazar had no doubts that it can survive the impact, but with the grav-pads and engine offline, the force of the impact will cause significant damage to the ship and the occupants inside will need time to recover from the crash landing.

 **The city of Piltover**

Jinx was on another rampage of mindless destruction, 10 police cruisers chasing her down. The sounds of gunfire and explosions drowning out the police sirens and the screams of the terrorized civilians on the streets. She fires a salvo of rockets aim straight towards the crusiers. The police frantically dodge the rockets but the resulting explosions causes them to lose steering and makes 4 of the cars to crash into another, pinning down the rest of them. As she makes her gateaway she notices something up in the sky losing altitude rapidly. It was far larger than any airship she can think off, and it seems like it was on fire.

She giggled and thought: _Today was much more interesting and fun than I thought it would be._

The police department had been bombarded by emergency reports, Sheriff Caitlyn was recieving reports of a huge unknown airborne craft had just crash landed onto the city square.

Medical personnel, firefighters and police were on the crash site and some of Piltover's champions has been sent to investigate this foreign object by request of the mayor. The craft was made out of pure metal and was far larger than any airship. On its prow it had a huge insignia of a partly mechanical skull surrounded by a cog.

"So what exactly is it Heimerdinger? Is it Zaunite?" asked Jayce, who was wary it might be a trap set up by their rivals.

"Im not exactly sure on what it is, but I can tell you it is definitely not Zaunite." the professor answered. On closer inspection, he figured out that the prow was actually a gigantic ramp. "I think I may have leads on what the ship is, and it might be used for transporting goods. But what could it be possibly transporting? It must be something really important as the whole craft is clad in metal." he deduced.

"What ever the hell that thing is transporting I want to know **now**." Caitlyn quickly remarked. "Setup a perimeter, I don't want to be taking any chances" she ordered. "Ziggs, you think you can crack that ship open?"

"Of course! It also looks like the vessel has received massive structural damage after the crash. Nothing a couple of satchel charges can't do!" Ziggs enthusiastically replied.

Just before Ziggs was about to detonate his hexplosives, the champions and police heard metallic clanking in rhythm with a march coming from the inside of the vessel. Then the unexpected happened, the prow started lowering ever so slowly. As the prow lowered even more, they started seeing multiple pairs of blue dots.

"Brace yourselves!" Caitlyn was not taking any chances with whatever awaits them. The police started forming firing lines, while the champions readied themselves for what they might face.

(Author's Notes: Hi guys, this is my first time writing any sort of fanfiction. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Kept the chapter short and concise, but I personally think it lacks build up.)


	2. Piltovian Arc 1: The First Encounter

As the ramp fully lowered, police and champions alike were all awestruck and intimidated with what they just witnessed. There they saw around three dozen men standing in battle ready formation completely still and silent, each trooper was encased in heavy warplate emblazoned with the unknown insignia, their forearms and legs from the knees down replaced by metal bionics, wearing crimson hooded war robes and rebreathers that completely masked their faces, their supposed eyes glowing with an eerie blue light and their bodies bristling with sensors, antennae, tubes and monitors. They reminded the champions about Viktor and how they look similar, but these soldiers appeared far more augmented, sinister and geared towards war and destruction.

"These are Viktor's men." Jayce gritted his teeth. "I thought you said the vessel wasnt Zaunite by origin Heimerdinger?"

"We don't have definite proof that these are Viktor's men. And in any case they dont look too friendly, but they haven't attacked us outright." the Professor replied.

"Perhaps they come in peace, maybe we can-"

"Whatever the case maybe, we have to deal with these guys." Caitlyn cutted Ezreal. "Stand down and surrender peacefully! You are completely surrounded, severely outnumbered and outmatched! Do not force us to take action upon you!" as she shouted to the unknown men with firm authority.

As if to prove her point, Vi was charging up her hextech gauntlets taking an offensive stance, Jayce converted his Mercury Hammer into the Mercury Cannon and charging it up for a shock blast, Heimerdinger setup his turrets and prepared to throw storm grenades as Ziggs lay down his minefields.

Feeling more confident, the Sheriff shouted, "You have 10 seconds to comply or we will act in force!" However, they did not respond, standing ever so still and silent. She started to count down.

"10!"

"9!"

"8!"

"7!"

Salazar was contemplating on his predicament. _These people speak Low Gothic, they are probably another lost colony that suffered in technological regression. However, they were able to create a rather impressive looking city and are much more advanced than Feral Worlds I have been to. They also seem to possess unique technology, however they also openly associate themselves with those furry squat xenos_ he thought to himself.

He was considered to stand down as their Onager Dunecrawlers and Servitors were not yet activated, while the rest of the Skitarii was still recovering from the rather devastating crash. _I should just stand down, and they might be able to help me...No. They are in cahoots with xenos and has developed heretical technologies. Death to all heretics. A sacrilege to the Machine God!_

The Sheriff was approaching the end of her countdown, when she suddenly heard a machine-filtered voice.

"May the Omnissiah protect! Death to the heretics! Execute attack protocol 1-2-0-1!" the robotic voice commanded.

Vi shouted quickly. "Everyone, take cover NOW!"

The police scrambled for cover, as Jayce hit the dirt, Caitlyn and Vi hid behind their police crusier while the Yordles quickly ducked.

"As you wish my lord. Executing extermination sequence!" barked the Ranger Alpha.

The air crackled with the volley of Galvanic Rifles, blasting away at the police barricade with such electrical blasts akin to Jayce's Shock Blast. Those who were unfortunate enough to be directly hit by the Galvanic Rifles received extremely agonizing deaths, their bodies electrocuted with such power that their eyeballs popped, blood came out of their orifices, parts where the skin was thin (like the head and hands) had their flesh completely flayed off, with the rest of their bodies singed.

The sight was harrowing. The stench of electrocuted corpses polluted the air, the gruesome bodies of those who were struck were strewn across the street drenching it in blood, the screams of pain and agony of the men and women who were grazed or took glancing hits filled the entire square. It was a massacre. The rest of the police force was shaken by what they saw.

"Standfast men! Don't lose heart! Return fire!" Caitlyn ordered. Although her own moral was waning, she had to stay strong and lead by example.

The remaining police forces and turrets returned the favor with an unrelenting hail of gunfire and grenades. Jayce fired a shock blast while Heimerdinger fired a salvo of micro missiles, topping it off with the detonation of hexplosives from Ziggs and energy bolts from Ezreal.

The Tech-Guard won't be so easily dispatched however. Despite their impressive display of firepower, they were only able to knock out four rangers.

Salazar was getting impatient, and he was not content in exchanging fire. "Komenos, execute the charge." he ordered.

" _Hyspatoi,_ advance!" the Ranger Alpha commanded in a monotonous voice. "Acknowledged. Executing attack order. Death to the Omnissiah's enemies. OORAH!" replied the rest of the entire Skitarii group in perfect sync, loud, monotone voice as they started their advance on the enemy lines.

The charge was lead by a man who appeared much more augmented and metal than the other troopers. He wore much more ornate battle robes and heavier armor that extended up to his limbs. He was covered with tubes and sensors and bristled with mechanical appendages. On his back was a huge arm of sorts similar to Viktor's but far heavier and larger. He was wielding an axe of sorts, and was followed closely by a man with less ornate battle robes and armor but was armed with an unknown type of mace. It was non-other than the Enginseer Explorator, Salazar and the Ranger Alpha, Komenos.

"Focus your fire on those two!" Caitlyn directed. "Mayor, this is Sheriff Caitlyn, call in all available police teams and special operations personnel! Please request for all the other champions of Piltover to come to our aid! We need ALL the help we can get!" as she was requesting reinforcements over the comm link, Vi and Jayce abruptly charged at the enemy intent on facing their foes head on.

"Vi! Jayce! Come back -"

"Don't worry cupcake we'll be fine! We'll beat the shit out of them!" as Vi and Jayce charged foward.

The mines and gunfire did nothing to stop the relentless charge of the Skitarii. The sight of the charge was terrifying. Unstoppable _m_ _en_ of metal charging furiously towards the police lines, with only the sickly blue glow coming out from their eyes, moving ever so silently. Salazar then spotted two figures with the courage approaching them for a melee.

"Ah, a challenge worth of my skill! I'll take on the woman, Komenos, you take on the other one!" Salazar was longing for a good fight. "Yes my lord. Into the fray, ATTACK!" Komenos ordered as the rest of the Skitarii to come crashing down on the enemy lines.

"You'll pay for what you've done you son of a bitch!" as Vi directed a haymaker towards the Enginseer.

The Enginseer was able to withstand the full blow, leaving a dent on his armor. "I will admit, you are strong woman, however that is not enough to take down the likes of me!" He then counter attacked with a massive full swing of his Omnissian Power Axe.

Vi quickly sidestepped and dodged the attack. Taking advantage on the slow recovery from the swing, she quickly barraged her foe with a flury of punches, denting the Enginseer's armor even more. Salazar then countered with a quick one handed hack from his axe. To his suprise, his power axe was stopped by an energy shield sheathing Vi. Due to the cumbersome nature of the power axe, she capitalized on the time she had and landed a vault shattering punch, square on the torso of the Enginseer. While the armor held, Salazar staggered from such an attack. She quickly vaulted foward and attempted to hit the back of his head. However, Salazar catched her gauntlet with his servo-arm. He then tossed her to the ground and tried to finish her with a heavy downward chop.

Telegraphing his attack, Vi quickly rolled out of the way and got back up. "You fight like an old man! Even Darius can beat you up!" she mocked.

Salazar underestimated his opponent. _She fights with two gauntlets similar to power fists and has the agility and speed reminiscent of a Space Marine_ he thought to himself. He activated his motion reading sensors, and began reading her motions and attack patterns.

Meanwhile, Jayce was having an easier time. He had a far longer reach than his opponent and realized that his opponent's weapon was very cumbersome and heavy. He opened up with a leaping attack, smashing the ground, hitting with such force that caused the ground to quake. Komenos counter attacked but was blocked by the shaft of the Mercury Hammer. Jayce then swings his hammer in a wide arc, hitting Komenos on the torso and staggers him.

Komenos was able to quickly recover and delivered a two handed smash, but was parried by the hammer head glancing it. He then delivers a quick swing but managed to hit Jayce's pauldron. The Arc Maul's power severely damaged the pauldron and singe Jayce's shoulder. However, Jayce was able to shrug it off and bashes Komenos with the front of hammer, knocking him back. He then delivers a thundering blow that sends Komenos reeling towards the ground. Just as he was about to smite the head of the Ranger Alpha, he saw Vi being choked.

* * *

Vi went on the offensive, throwing punches left and right, to her suprise the Enginseer was able to dodge all of her attacks and became much more agile. She then made a fatal mistake, as she tried landing an uppercut, Salazar quickly countered with a one handed chop to her side, penetrating her energy shield and cleaving into the side of her abdomen. While she was still doubled backed, wincing in pain, he choked her using his servo-arm, preparing to slice her in half with his power axe.

"You fight well woman. I will admit, you put up quite a fight like an _Astartes_. However, everything must come to and end, including your pathetic life."

As Salazar was about to cut her in two, Jayce was able to bash Salazar's chest straight on. The armor failed and the attack hit his metallic chest. While he was able to take the blow, it disoriented him and caused him to drop Vi to the ground. Jayce carried the wounded Vi, and laid down an acceleration gate and quickly escaped.

While Salazar wasnt able to win the skirmish, the rest of the police forces were being slaughtered by the Skitarii. Their riot gear and melee training being no match for the augmented rangers that exist only to wage war. It was extremely one sided and was becoming a bloodbath. Some of the policemen/women tried desperately to fend them off while others routed.

Ziggs' regular hexplosives proved ineffective against the armor the Skitarii wore. Explosion after explosion, he wasnt able to take down the ranger going after him. He was kicked aside and knocked across the street. Just before the ranger could skewer him with a bayonet, a timely Storm Grenade from Heimerdinger was able to temporarily disable the assailant.

Short of breath, Ziggs quickly thanked Heimerdinger. "I thought I was a goner, thanks for saving my ass Cecil!"

"Don't need to thank me, but now we know that my Storm Grenades can disable these things!" Unfortunately for him, he only had two with him and he already used one.

As the Skitarii were on the brink of overrunning the police lines, a whirlwind halted their progress followed by a powerful electric pulse, stunning any ranger caught in it. The remaining champions and polices forces were extremely relieved with the temporary respite. Their reinforcements have arrived. Coming to their aid, all special operations teams, available police personnel, Orianna, Corki and Janna.

Knowing that his forces were severely limited along with their supplies and ammunition, Salazar ordered the assault to stop and began withdrawing. "Gather the wounded! We have failed the day! Retreat!" he ordered to his men. "Affirmative. Initiating tactical withdrawal." replied his men in still perfect sync and monotonous voice.

* * *

Author's Notes: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Expect fairly frequent updates. Again, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Maybe you think it lacked character dialogue, the descriptions are too long/too short, etc, let me know what you think.

Hyspatoi - Rangers (As refered to formally)  
Astartes - Space Marines  
Men - They are augmented to the point where they could be considered non human


	3. Piltovian Arc 1: Aftermath and Hindsight

"Pursue! Don't let them get away!" cried out Vi. "Enough blood has been spilled today! You yourself are in no shape to fight!" Caitlyn retorted. "Dozens of our men were slaughtered like animals, many more will die from their wounds! Your lucky enough the Professor and Janna helped you!"

"Those good men and women, they all trusted me, and I failed them all." Caitlyn said with grief in her voice. "I won't forgive myself, I sent them all to their deaths."

"Don't be too hard to yourself, cupcake. We didn't know what we were going up against." Vi somberly said.

Caitlyn started to tear up. "Too hard on myself?! I saw them...all of them, screaming as they were cut down. Dying in the most painful ways imaginable. Most of them unrecognizable, their bodies singed, flayed, dismembered, mutilated. What do I tell their families? Their sons and daughters coming home in closed caskets. All because of me."

The other champions silently agreed with the Sheriff. They had seen enough for today. It was stomach churning. The stink of galvanized corpses, the blood soaked streets, scores of body bags piled up, it was too much to handle.

"It begs the question though, why did they retreat?" pondered Ezreal. "They proved nigh unstoppable. If they did not back out we would all be dead."

"Perhaps their leader would not risk an open battle with the odds stacked against them. As we know, they are all contained in their vessel and they are most likely limited in number. He is probably not willing to take any further casualties or unnecessary fights as it would deplete his already limited manpower and supplies." Heimerdinger speculated.

"Whatever the reason, they are extremely dangerous and should not be trifled with. We need this whole area secured and locked down until our situation improves. I want you champions to stand guard along with all our spec ops teams and city guard. Set up more defenses, fortify your positions. We cannot allow these outsiders to run rampant or who knows what they will do." The mayor ordered.

* * *

 **3 days later**

Jinx witnessed the whole battle unfold. Even with her love for destruction and chaos it was too much to see. While she cared little for collateral damage and her victims, she never deliberately tried to kill people and really just wanted to piss off Piltover's Finest for fun. The level of carnage and death the outsiders brought unnerved her. She actually wanted to help the Piltovans fend them off.

"If they run amok, there wont be a Piltover left for me to blow up or Fat Hands and Hat Lady to piss off." she thought to herself aloud. " I bet they need everything they can get and hey, maybe it would be a nice change to blow up bad guys for fun!" She made up her mind, she would join the Piltovans in their defense.

She came close to the defense perimeter. It looked like a warzone. Fortified steam machine-gun emplacements everywhere, Hextech Cannons positioned all along the perimeter, Sentry bots patrolling the whole area, Heimerdinger's turrets and Ziggs' mines littering the square, gunmen armed with heavy firelocks, semi-automatic rifles and hextech guns and Piltover's champions talking among themselves.

Jinx casually strolled towards the defense line. "Hey, whats up? You guys seem to be in such a buzz today!" she said with a smile.

"Halt! Drop your weapons and put your hands up! We will not hesitate shooting if you do not comply!" the captain said with authority, with everyone else aiming their firearms directly at Jinx.

"Alright, alright! Geez, you uptight guys are always no fun to be with." as she said while dropping her weapons and putting her hands up in the air.

The captain cuffed her, wondering why Piltover's most infamous criminal would just turn herself in so easily. "Sheriff Caitlyn, Mayor Angelo; you might want to take a look at this, we just arrested Jinx." she said over the intercom.

"What? You just arrested Jinx? Bring her to us immediately." Caitlyn replied, puzzled to why Jinx would just surrender like that and what the criminal's intentions were. "Understood ma'am." acknowledged the captain as she brought Jinx to the Sheriff.

"Oh hey Hat Lady! Did you miss me?" she said as if they were best friends. "Oooh, that looks nasty! What happened to you Fat Hands? Someone beat you up?" upon seeing Vi with a huge gash on her abdomen.

" **WHY** are you here?!" Caitlyn said irately. "Give me a reason why I shouldn't bash your face in!" Vi followed.

Jinx giggled. "Im here for you, silly! You guys, always so serious, I decided to lighten you up!"

"So let me get this straight. You, the most wanted criminal in Piltover, want to help us at this time? You think we would fall for that so easily?" Caitlyn responded.

Jinx proceeded to do a slow clap. "Wow Hat Lady, you are so smart! Of course I just want to have fun with you and Fat Hands!" she cheerily said.

"How about I lock you up rather than work with-"

"Now hold on Sheriff. While we don't know why she would want to help us, Jinx is nonetheless a champion of considerable strength and we need all the help we can get. You are not going to lock her up. Is that clear?" the mayor said, much to the dismay of Caitlyn.

"But she -"

"No buts. I don't want to hear any more protests. You will work with her, is that understood? You can do whatever you like to the criminal AFTER this is over."

Caitlyn begrudgingly agreed. "Yes sir."

"You see? The old man is already more exciting than you Hat Lady!" Jinx said while the captain was unlocking her cuffs.

The mayor turned to Jinx. "So, why do you want to offer us your services? What do you want in return? A pardon?"

"Meh, reasons. I just want to have more fun! Blowing up buildings was already getting boring."

* * *

A couple of days went by and champions were figuring out the best course of action and how they would deal with the intruders.

"They can't just stay in there forever. They have to come out sooner or later." Ezreal started the converstaion.

"Then we take the fight to them! They retreated! They know they can't beat us!" Jayce said brashly.

Vi agreed with Jayce. "I agree with him, we should push out and take it to them!"

"Yeah! Fishbones cant wait to blow stuff up! Don't you boy?" as Jinx was making her rocket launcher "nod."

"Sadly to say, I don't think that wont be happening Jinx." Ziggs coldly said. "My regular hexplosives and Heimerdinger's micro missiles barely scratched their armor and slowed them down at best. We have to approach them with extreme caution."

"My storm grenades and Orianna's electric discharge proved quite effective in disabling and damaging those troopers. Miss Janna also showed that her powers are capable of keeping them at bay. " Heimerdinger remarked. "We also have Corki with us, isn't that right old friend?"

"You got it chief! My copter can take on anything!"

"I highly doubt that, just as Ziggs' said, regular hexplosives dont do much." Orianna reminded.

"But my Special Delivery would! I'll bomb them to smithereens!" Corki confident with his abilities.

"I don't think you can even fly your craft inside that vessel if we were to assault it." Orianna pointed out.

"Oh yeah...I guess I could try?" Corki said with much less confidence.

"You guys are severely underestimating our enemy. They proved extremely durable to our weaponry and have the strength that non augmented people can't possibly hope to match. Their own firepower is leagues ahead on what we have, with their basic firearms basically firing shock blasts from Jayce." Caitlyn shuddered as she remembered her officers dying. "We might be able to beat them, but at what cost? Don't you all remember what happened to the others? I doubt all they have is just 3 dozen men. Judging the size of that thing, there might be hundreds more."

"I will have to stand by the Caitlyn here. She is right, we will sustain horrendous losses. Even if we win, our strength would be severely cut down that Zaun can attack us outright and win. They are also bound to have something up their sleeve." Janna reasoned.

Mayor Angelo suddenly spoke up. "Do not worry champions, I have the situation under control. We give them 3 more days. I have requested the Institute of War for assistance after reporting what has happened here in Piltover and they replied that they will provide us help. Either the outsiders will surrender or they will be crushed." he said quite proudly.

* * *

 **Inside the Maximus Crusade**

Salazar's fellow tech-priests has been able to get the ship's auxiliary power back online after 5 days. With this, he could access the armory and mech-bay as well as wake up any remaining Skitarii and Combat Servitors still in the stasis chambers. He began accessing the ship's exterior scanners.

 _Their numbers have increased tenfold. They have the entrance completely surrounded. These heretics are completely entrenched with alot of fortifications and heavy weapon emplacements. The surrounding buildings turn into huge garrisons. It seems their technology is a mix of warp magic and mechanical compontents, similar to Eldar constructs yet more crude and weaker. Such perversions to the Omnissiah. These heathens shall pay for their transgressions._ He thought while scanning the perimeter.

Salazar took note of his casualties during the first encounter. He had Komenos injured as well as 9 other rangers knocked out. While the knocked out rangers could be salvaged and mended back into fighting condition, he did not have the supplies and equipment to do so. For his underdeveloped enemies to take down 10 men out of the 35 who sallied forth, it was quite a feat.

He reassessed his forces. He had around 220 Skitarii Rangers, now equipped with Arc Rifles, Plasma Calivers and Transuranic Arquebuses. 20 Kataphron Battle Servitors, armed with Heavy Arc Rifles, Plasma Culverines, Phosphor Blasters, Torsion Cannons and Flamers. As for mechanized support he had 4 Ironstrider Ballistarii, 4 Sydonian Dragoons and one Onager Dunecrawler. Finally he had 6 of his fellow Tech-priest Enginseers by his side.

Salazar was confident that he would win a pitched battle with the heretics. However his enemies numbered in the thousands, more heavily armed and properly entrentched in their defenses. Proving that they can at least fight and take down some of his men, he was not willing to do battle. His casualties would be severe and would practically mean the annihilation of his small cohort.

He consulted with his fellow Enginseers for their next action. "As you probably know by now, we are completely surrounded. We only have two options here. We either do battle or we ask for terms."

"Ask for terms? Are you mad! These people are heretics and should be condemned to die!" the first tech-priest said.

Enginseer Orion agreed. "I am with brother Sicarius. They associate themselves with xenos and have developed warped based technology."

"Not all warp based technology is heretical brother Orion. To give you an example, we frequently use warp engines. As for the xenos, we could purge them out. There is no need to further risk ourselves."

"Sister Sigrid is right. There is no need for us to expend our troops if we can avoid it. What harm will a diplomatic ploy do to us?" reasoned out another.

"I for one think that we should annihilate these vermin! They dare stand in the way of the Adeptus Mechanicus? They shall be made example to what happens if you cross the Omnissiah's chosen!"

"There is no need to be bellicose brother. We will lose too much resources and manpower if we openly engage them right now. Who knows, we may be even able to secure some lost technology from these colonists." Enginseer Alexis replied. "It seems that our verdict is split. It looks like you will have to cast the final my lord." as he turned to Salazar.

Just before Salazar could make up his mind, the ship's relay has just recieved an emergency vox broadcast from another ship. "To anyone who recieves this vox transmission, I am Enginseer Alcatraz. Tech-priest Majoris of the Destroyer Forlorn Mars, part of Explorator Fleet KX-127. We have crash landed on an uncharted planet, our captain is in no condition to lead, making me in charge. Trace down the coordinates of this broadcast and send help. May the Omnissiah protect. Enginseer Alcatraz out."

Salazar realized that this ship was also a part of the Explorator Fleet he was in. He quickly ordered for the coordinates to be tracked down. Once they were able to pinpoint the exact location of the transmission, it turns out that the Forlorn Mars crash landed on the northern western part of the same landmass, not too far from the city the Maximus Crusade crashed in.

With this new information, Salazar had a new plan of action. "Listen my fellow servants of the Machine. We will try and negotiate with these colonists and avoid open battle as much as possible. We meet up with the Forlorn Mars then we decided on what to with these people."

The rest of the Enginseers nodded.

* * *

 **Piltovian Defense Line**

Loud commotion and large amounts of clanking could be heard coming from within the Maximus Crusade. The security forces scramble to take up defensive positions and man their heavy weapons catching them unprepared. Likewise, the champions prepared themselves for what is to come. The aid from the Institute had not yet arrived and was due in 3 days.

"Here they come! Give them everything you got!" Jayce shouted. "Aim for their joints and eyes!" Caitlyn followed up. Everyone was pointing their weapons at the prow, getting tense and nervous.

The ramp of the Maximus Crusade started lowering. Halfway opened, the ramp stopped. They heard the same machine-filtered voice they had previously encountered.

"We come in peace. We only wish to negotiate. We ask that we discuss for terms."

* * *

Author's notes: I hope you enjoyed reading this. Please do tell me if the pacing of the story is too fast, or if some of the things that happened was pretty out of character.


	4. Piltovian Arc 1: Negotiations

"Asking for terms? After you slaughter my people and terrorize this city? You must think me mad!" Mayor Angelo was furious with their request. Negotiating with these outsiders who has plagued his city was the last thing he would do.

Everyone else shared the same sentiments with the mayor. Do these outsiders think that they will easily forget everything that had happened and greet them with open arms? They shall pay for their crimes in blood. The Piltovians were thirsty for vengeance.

"You must be getting desperate, aren't you? To negotiate with the very people you have sought to destroy, how quaint." The mayor continued on to taunt the robotic voice. "I will only entertain your unconditional surrender! If you do not surrender, we will show you no mercy and annihilate every last one of you scum!"

The Piltovians cheered on upon hearing the ultimatum, mocking and throwing insults at their foes, confident in their abilities and number. The mayor was emboldened by this. "You scum think you can just go by killing scores of people and destroying property unpunished? Surrender now and your judgement will be far less steeper!"

 _Pompous fool! You think you can defeat the servants of the Omnissiah? You dare defy the might of the Mechanicus? Your fealty will extend beyond death!_

Salazar was furious, his hands clenched into fists, but the mayor was right; he was also desperate. The enemy had every advantage of defending from buildings and fortified positions.

While he was still confident with the ability of his men to win a direct confrontation, the losses will be catastrophic, and any plans of recovering technologies or escaping this world would be severely hampered if not downright ruined.

Salazar used all his power refrain from bursting into rage and remain rational. He comforted himself with the thought that they will all pay in due time. For now, he had to keep things from escalating further.

Salazar bellowed with contempt. "And how certain are you to be able to beat me?"

The mayor scoffed, having no doubts that he can deal with the intruders. "Last I remembered you don't even have more than forty men! You and your ragtag bunch of _men_ are no match for us. I'll say this for the last time, give up and we will be more merciful."

The Enginseer Explorator, having been a veteran of shrewdness and diplomacy, knew that this charade of words won't keep up. After all, actions speak louder than words.

The prow of the Maximus Crusade started to slowly lower until it fully opened. Any confidence and bravado Mayor Angelo had, swiftly fade away along with the mocking and insults from the Piltovian Defense Force. Silence took everyone as they tensed up and became nervous from what they saw.

* * *

Instead of the expected 30 or so men they first encountered, there they saw around two hundred of them. Still and silent in formation, their blue eyes flickering to life, like phantoms in the night. They were now armed with a various assortment of weapons besides the Galvanic Rifles the Piltovians already encountered. Accompanying them were 20 unholy hulking amalgamations of man and machine, reminiscent of Urgot.

They towered at least 3 heads over the other _regular_ troopers. Their legs completely gone, their torsos grafted into pairs of heavily armored tank treads. Their limbs made out of pure metal, with arms and hands turned into massive weapons.

They wore even more impressive and heavier armor than their peers, forming layers upon layers of warplate that extended to their limbs and neck; emblazoned with the same insignia and colored with the same crimson they saw on the battle robes. Their heads were now made of metal, and their bodies were adorned in tubes and sensors.

Behind the main infantry line were 8 or so fully mechanized, reverse joint, bipedal walkers. They had huge metal claws, and was plated all around with armor. They were commandeered by men who were completely encased in a full suit of battle armor, much more ornate than the regular warplate their peers wore.

Half of them were armed with some sort of energy lance and one handed firearm while the other half was armed with twin auto cannons mounted on the walker.

The most horrifying sight was a huge battle walker. It had four legs for locomotion, wielding a giant energy weapon mounted on its carriage, dwarfing everything the Piltovian's have. It was completely clad in metal, with a ranger manning its pintle mounted secondary weapons.

Leading them was the same man who they have encountered before, with 6 other men who looked like him, albeit with less ornate robes and armor.

To say that the Piltovian's were disheartened by what they saw is an understatement. They were absolutely terrified. Silence took over all of them.

Salazar chuckled inwardly. He was able to to demoralize his enemy and now was in good position to initiate talks between the two parties.

After a minute of defeaning silence, Salazar boldly spoke up. "Are you now willing to negotiate with us, or will you still demand our unconditional surrender?" His voice took a softer tone. "We do not have to spill blood today. On my word, no one will be harmed. We only wish for safe passage out of your premises."

Mayor Angelo was extremely wary in trusting this aggressor and rightfully so. His enemy wished for safe passage, yet was the first one to start hostilities and slaughter his people. However, if it meant peace and the aversion of the loss of many lives, he had to risk it and talk.

After a noticable delay, the mayor finally replied. "Yes, I am willing to parley with you. However, you must come to our lines if you want to discuss matters with me." He said with an unenthusiastic voice, still not trusting his foe.

"Very well, I shall meet you in your lines along with my personal guard." Salazar signaled his fellow Enginseers to come with him. The mayor had Ziggs blow up the minefields along the path of the Tech-priests were about to take.

Upon reaching the frontline, several of the guardsmen lead Salazar and his men into a restaurant near the frontlines. On the way, he observed the Piltovians, their defenses, the weaponry they carried and took mental notes.

The Hextech Cannons specifically got his attention. They were quite compact, a single man could easily operate them. Warp energies constantly resonated within it and the barrel glowed with a brilliant blue hue.

They reminded him of Imperial Psycannons and Eldar Brightlances. If he could get his hands on the design and tinker with it, who knows what he can accomplish? While it might be heretical, anything for the betterment of mankind is justified.

 _To give them credit they have quite fascinating tech, n_ _o doubt that my men will have a hard time attacking them. Perhaps they have acquired an STC._ Salazar was quite ecstatic at the thought of discovering a new STC. _No matter, I will learn the truth soon. These whelps stand no chance once I rendezvous with the Forlorn Mars._

After a few minutes, they finally reached the restaurant door. "Here you are my lords. The mayor is waiting for you." The guard captain politely addressed him, bowing her head.

The restaurant was dimly lit, the curtains were barely opened with only meager sunlight getting in. At the corner of the restaurant, Mayor Angelo along with all of Piltover's champions were on one side of a long table glaring straightly at them, fury obvious in their eyes. Vi in particular as Salazar was able to best her in close combat while Jinx struggled hard to contain herself. Mayor Angelo gestured for Salazar and his company to take a seat.

The atmosphere was quite awkward and tense to say the least. Trying to converse with the ruthless leader of men who killed hundreds of police officers was quite hard indeed.

Salazar was growing impatient and decided to break the silence by introducing himself. "Good day to you all. I am Salazar Biachenko, Explorator Enginseer Acula of the Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator Fleet KX-127."

"Adeptus Mechanicus? Enginseer? Explorator Fleet? What?" Heimerdinger was extremely confused by all of these new words. That being said, everyone else was also confused.

The mayor, was deeply intrigued with these outsiders. "You are not from the continent of Valoran are you? Where do you exactly come from?"

Salazar forgot that he was talking to colonists who has all but forgotten their origins and their history. "Where we come from does not matter. But let's just say we are not from this world and we were in an expedition before crashing into your planet."

The Runeterrans were extremely confounded. The thought of multiple worlds inhabited by life never crossed their mind. Heimerdinger for one was extremely curious, as he proceeded to ask more questions. "Not from this world? So you have traveled the stars just to get here? What made you come crashing down here in Runeterra?"

Salazar was quite annoyed that a squat xenos was trying to converse with him. As such he did not care to reply. He turned his attention to the mayor. "Enough of the questions, we are here for negotiations."

Mayor Angelo snapped back to reality. "Right, enough of the chatter Professor." He promptly introduced himself. "I am Angelo Brown, Mayor of Piltover, The City of Progress. Now, Mr. Biachenko lets hear your proposition."

"We merely want safe passage out of your city and perhaps more information about your world." Salazar took a short pause, thinking carefully of what he was about to say next. "In return, we will leave your domain, never to return and do no further harm to the populace. You may also use the remnants of the ship for any technological advancement."

Salazar lied about never returning to Piltover. He also made sure that nothing of note could be salvaged and studied from the Maximus Crusade and knew that the colonists were too primitive to replicate the alloys that made up the ship.

Caitlyn then spoke up, anger in her voice. "And what of all the innocent people you have killed?"

"Sheriff Caitlyn, PLEASE." The mayor reprimanded the Sheriff. He could not afford this meeting breaking down. He turned to Salazar. "I am terribly sorry for the attitude of the Sheriff here."

"Apology accepted."

The mayor was quite relieved that his guests took it lightly. "Your request and conditions seem reasonable enough-" He turned to the champions, all of them returning an approving nod. "Very well, Mr. Biachenko, I accept your terms. I am giving you one day to leave my city." He spoke with authority while handing over a map of Valoran to the outsiders.

Salazar was pleased that the ordeal was done, he stood up from his seat and prepared to depart. "Understood. We will be departing now."

The mayor sighed deeply after Salazar and his company have left. It was a very stressful meeting, and he still had an uneasy feeling that the tech-priests were still planning on something much more sinister.

"Sheriff Caitlyn and Enforcer Vi. I want you and your men to escort the outsiders out of the city. Make sure they keep their word and they do no further harm. Be on high alert."

Caitlyn propped herself up and saluted. "Very well sir." Her partner giving the mayor a nod.

Jinx pouted. "I was promised blowing stuff up! Oh well, I guess I'll just tag along with Hat Lady and Fat Hands. Im _sure_ they wont mind."

"Sure go do that, just don't go destroying property." The mayor said with haste, quite vexed. Upon hearing this Caitlyn rolled her eyes while Vi grunted, both of them quite annoyed that they can't arrest Jinx, let alone let the criminal go with them, but orders were orders.

The mayor turned to face the three Yordles. "You lot, I want you to study whatever you can from their ship. Professor Heimerdinger, I want more surveillance systems all around the city. I want turret emplacements, I want more sentry bots patrolling the outskirts. I highly doubt this is the last time we are going to see them."

"Acknowledged mayor! I'll see what me and my team can do." replied Heimerdinger.

Mayor Angelo knew Jayce wanted to be fully honored for his actions as The Defender of Tommorow and he will give him that satisfaction. "Jayce, The Defender of Tommorow, you have done Piltover much service over the years."

Jayce was quite flattered with what the mayor said. "For this service, I am making you the first Guard Commander of the Piltovian City Guard. I want you always ready in a moments notice. See that our city defenses are bolstered and the men prepared. Those outsiders cannot be trusted."

"Dont worry old man, you can always count on me." Jayce beaming with confidence as usual.

The old man retired back to his home. He knew for a fact it won't be over.

The day went by and the withdrawal of the Mechanicus was quite uneventful. True to their word, they did not cause any more chaos. They simply lined up in an orderly formation and marched their way out of Piltover.

* * *

Author's Notes: Hey guys, sorry it took longer than usual for me to update the story. Was busy playing Total War: Warhammer and I had to rewrite this entire chapter.


	5. Freljordan Arc 1: Forlorn Mars

**Avarosa**

Queen Ashe was holding the an emergency war council in the conference hall today. Leading the war council with her was Tryndamere, The Barbarian King with all the other warlords and chieftains who had pledged to Avarosa attending it. Sejuani and the Winter's Claw has been stirring up to quite alarming levels this past month or so, no doubt preparing to do battle with the Avarosans again.

While the Winter's Claw and Sejuani had been beaten time and time again, this time was very different. She now has Zaunite mercenaries fighting with her as well as the backing of the Ursines lead by Volibear. More suprisingly, Noxus had taken interest in the Freljordan conflict and has struck a deal with the Winter's Claw, sending military aid to fight for them.

Queen Ashe initiated the War Council with formalities. "Good morning warlords and chieftains, you all know why I called for this war council. The fires of war is coming swiftly. The Winter's Claw is going to do battle with us once again, this time with foreign aid and this time it seems that the Institute won't be able to stop this from further escalating."

"Time and time again, we will always prove that we are stronger! Screw the Institute! Let's show them how Northerners solve their problems!" One of the senior warlords boomed. "Even with these foreigners fighting, we will prevail! I say let them come! Huzzah!" Another one cheered on, raising clenching a fist into the air.

"HUZZAH!" The rest of the men reciprocated the cheer ecstatically, imitating his actions.

Ashe was being very skeptical of things however. She was quite surprised on how oblivious of recent news the warlords and chieftains were.

"This isn't just some bunch of raiding parties the Winter's Claw will be launching." She quickly added. "Scouts report a huge amassing of warriors and troops from every tribe under the Winter's Claw. Not only that but I have recieved reports of Olaf and all his berserkers being seen among with Sejuani's warbands-"

"We have seen what the Winter's Claw can fully do, nothing will be different. It will be a sore and bloody day, many shall die, but we will still triumph over them!" One of the old chieftains bellowed without a shred of doubt.

"HUZZAH!" The others in the council cheered on the old man, pounding their fists on the table.

"SILENCE!" Tryndamere shouted as loud as he can. "Listen to your queen, or I will forcefully make you!" He threatened while cracking his knuckles. The warlords instantly shutting up.

Ashe could not help but frown and shake her head. "Thank you Tryndamere." She went on with the war council. "It is not only the Winter's Claw I worry about, that I believe we can take them on. However my rangers report seeing Volibear and the Ursine war host being among Sejuani's ranks."

"By the gods, the Ursines too?"

She ignored the comment, continuing on. "Zaunite mercenaries had also been spotted, with the Machine Herald leading them himself along with all his battle automatons. Finally, we have confirmed sightings of Noxian banners among Sejuani's war camps. This means they have enough firepower to breach the walls of Rakelstake and troops to assault the city."

"Damn those Noxian bastards!" One of the warlords slammed his fist unto the table while another warlord asked: "What will you have us do my queen?", quite terrified by what they were about to face.

Sensing that her subjects were being filled with dread, Ashe decided to comfort them with a bit of knowledge. "I have sent ravens for our Demacian allies and they have replied that they will be sending a sizable force with the Demacian elite, due to come in 3 days."

"What of our Piltovian _allies_? Are they going to help us or are they going to cower in their city as usual?" A chieftain quickly noted.

"The Piltovian governor has sworn that they will be providing military assistance; however, an incident occurred in their city that even the Institute has taken notice off, they can only afford to send a small detachment of men."

One of the warlords spat out in spite. "Bah! Those milk drinkers! Always finding excuses! And here comes the oh so powerful and knowing Institute, giving their attention to some shit at Piltover instead of trying to stop a full blown war here at the Freljord!"

Ashe quickly shot back at the statement. "Whatever happened there in Piltover MUST be more important than the upcoming war here in the Freljord, even if it sounds extremely absurd. We should be thankful that they are helping us at all. I have sent envoys to Bilgewater to hire some mercenaries, but it would take them at least a week to get here."

"As for you my loyal tribesmen, you are to -"

One of the royal guards suddenly burst into the conference hall, panting heavily. Tryndamere got up his seat, visibly furious by this trespass. "What is the meaning of this interruption? Can you not see we are still in a middle of an important war council? This had better be important lad!"

"I-I am sorry my lords. B-but there is s-something you must see outside!" he quickly blurted out, quite short of breath.

Everyone in the conference hall quickly stood up and ran to the palace porch that overlooked the city of Rakelstake. Everything seemed normal to them, until they noticed high up in the sky a huge flaming meteor falling down.

As it descended to the earth they corrected their previous assumption. It wasn't a meteor, and its descent was slower than a free falling object. It was something artificially made, much more massive than anything they have previously seen that can take the skies. Based on the trajectory, it must have fallen really really high up in the sky, further than anything in Runeterra can reach.

Fortunately for them, the foreign object was going to overshoot Rakelstake and land onto the forest patch around 50 miles beyond the city borders. As far as they know, that part of the Freljord was uninhabited by people. Upon crashing, they could hear a very feint explosion sound and smoke coming from the crash site.

Ashe quickly ordered to the royal guardsman. "I want a search party dispatched now! Figure out what that thing was and report back to me immediately."

"Yes ma'am!" he acknowledged, quickly bolting off to fulfill his orders. Tryndamere then directed the war council back to the conference hall after this sudden interruption.

Unfortunately for the Avarosans, they were not the only one who saw what happened.

* * *

 **Forlorn Mars**

The Forlorn Mars was also a victim of the same freak localized warp storm that befell the Maximus Crusade. Unlike the Maximus Crusade, the travel through the warp has severely damaged the Cobra class destroyer, its devastation far worse than the previously mentioned freighter.

One of the void shield generators the Destroyer had overloaded, resulting in a catastrophic explosion but due to the sacrifice of many tech-priests, they were able to localize the damage to the mid section of the ship. The resulting explosion still breached the hull, and killed many Skitarii still in stasis sleep as well as numerous crew members on board.

The warp engine was also severely damaged, and while the tech-priests were able to sooth the temperamental machine spirit, the resulting explosion knocked out all their engines and devastated the command bridge of the ship, killing most of the senior tech-priests and commanding officers inside.

To make matters worse, the weapons battery on board had its ordnance detonated, blowing up the top of the mid section, almost breaking the ship in half with its explosion, spreading fires everywhere. All the servitors, chain gangs and tech-priests manning the weaponry were quickly turned into ash in the ensuing inferno.

This machine is discharged into your care.

Fight with this machine, and guard it from the shame of defeat.

Serve this machine, as you would have fight it for you.

"I shall."

-Ceremony of Commission

Alcatraz was anointed as the Tech-priest Majoris of the Forlorn Mars, it was his duty to maintain the ship and see it to the end. He had to take in charge of the ship, with his superiors not responding on the vox or giving out orders. If no one acted, they would all be doomed.

Upon entering Runeterra's atmosphere, Enginseer Alcatraz quickly ordered all power to be diverted to any functional grav pads remaining and directed the helmsman to pull the ship up. The descent of the Forlorn Mars slowed down drastically, while flattening out its own trajectory.

Enginseer Alcatraz barked down the ship intercom as the earth approached nearer. "Everyone, brace for impact!" He prayed for everyone on the ship. "May the Omnissiah protect us all. Glory to the Emperor."

Unlike other Cobra class destroyers, the Forlorn Mars was altered to carry and deliver a whole war cohort of Mechanicum troops. The retrofit included more mech bays, armories, stasis quarters, grav pads and huge landing bays located on its reinforced prow. This however meant that the number of plasma torpedos, torpedo tubes and weapon arrays it can carry were greatly reduced, which proved very beneficial for the Forlorn Mars upon crashing landing to Runeterra.

The Forlorn Mars met the ground, prow first in a very heavy crash. The screeching sound of protesting metal was heard throughout the entire ship, then a loud explosion followed. A single loaded plasma torpedo blew up, damaging the torpedo tube it was in. Thankfully the explosion did minimal damage, as the prow was heavily armored and designed to withstand hits.

The ship careened down the forest in a trail of smoke and fire, knocking down all the trees in its way, stopping after a half kilometer.

Miraculously, the Forlorn Mars was still in one piece and upright, albiet it was on fire in many places and its mid section almost cut in two. But the important thing is that hey have survived the ordeal.

"Omnissiah be praised! He has delivered us!" Alcatraz said to himself ecstatically, praising the Machine God for this blessing. The survivors were shaken and wounded, but alive nonetheless. He turned back to the ship intercom. "To all crewmen, servitor or remaining tech-priests; put out the fires and restore auxiliary power."

After the power has been restored, Alcatraz toured the ship. He took note the extent of damage the ship withheld and how many crew members were lost.

Out of 15,000 souls on board the ship, around 8000 perished, most of them were crewmen, servitors and chain gangs. Easily replaceable. It was quite astonishing really. While alot of men died in the disaster, the kind of damage the Forlorn Mars had received would normally be enough to wipe out most of its occupants. Majority of the war cohort was left untouched. While most of the Skitarii in the stasis chambers located in the mid section of the ship had perished, a huge percentage of the war cohort was located in the forward section and prow of the ship.

The high command of the ship did not fair as well as the cohort however. They were all included in those 8000 deaths.

Enginseer Alcatraz quickly went up to the remnants of the command bridge, intent on saving anyone who could have survived the warp engine explosion.

The whole bridge was filled with smoke, debris falling and sparks flying everywhere with everyone dead, their bodies reduced into cinder. Except for their captain, Magos Dominus Sicarius. He had survived thanks to his armor and heavily augmented body.

Upon seeing that the Magos was still alive, Alcatraz quickly went up to his superior and got him out of the smoldering ruin. His commanding officer was charred, mangled and broken; barely alive. He carried the remains of Magos Sicarius and rushed towards the medical bay.

If Alcatraz was a minute late, Magos Sicarius would have perished as well, but Omnissiah be praised; this was not the case. The medical servitors were able to stabilize Magos Sicarius' condition and allow him to regain consciousness.

"Come and listen." Magos Sicarius said weakly, almost whisper like. He then signaled Alcatraz to come even closer.

"While I am the captain of the Forlorn Mars and the leader of the war cohort, I am in no condition to lead the men anymore. My physical body is twisted, broken and immobilized. Only a return to a forge world would restore me back into proper shape. With all the other high ranking tech-priests dead, you are the highest ranking tech-priest left."

He then carefully stripped of his Data Tether and gave it to Enginseer Alcatraz. "You were the only one with the initiative to take command and check the command bridge. Enginseer Alcatraz...you have served me and this ship well. I hereby give you full control over the war cohort and the remainder of this ship. I appoint you captain and Master of Skitarii. Just promise me one thing..."

"What is it my lord?"

"Bring the Adeptus Mechanicus glory. Find a way back home. May the Omnissiah protect." Those were the final words of Magos Sicarius, as he was placed back in stasis sleep by the servitors.

"I will my lord. I will. May the Omnissiah protect." he replied posthumously.

His first act of action as captain was to gather information. He went towards the communications relay of the ship. "Transmechanics, are any of our vox comms working? I need to send a distress message." He spoke with his new found authority evident in his voice.

"Yes, my lord. Our broadcast master-vox is still operational." One of them softly spoke up, handing Alcatraz the sonic tether.

"To anyone who receives this vox transmission, I am Enginseer Alcatraz. Tech-priest Majoris of the Destroyer Forlorn Mars, part of Explorator Fleet KX-127. We have crash landed on an uncharted planet, our captain is in no condition to lead, making me in charge. Trace down the coordinates of this broadcast and send help. May the Omnissiah protect. Enginseer Alcatraz out."

Suddenly, a reply was sent back to them. Much sooner than he anticipated, it meant that they were not alone in this world. The unknown ship replied back to him.

"This is Explorator Enginseer Acula, Salazar Biachenko replying. To the Forlorn Mars, we have received your distress transmission and tracked down your coordinates. My ship, the Maximus Crusade, has also crashed into the same uncharted planet. You are currently around 200 kilometers to the north-west of us. Me and my men have confirmed that this world is one of the lost colonies. Stay tight brother, we are going to rendezvous to your current location. May the Omnissiah protect. Enginseer Biachenko out.

Alcatraz was quite relieved by this, knowing that they were not alone and that this was a lost colony, allowing him to fulfill the wishes of his captain.

He knew that it would take some time for Salazar's men to get to him, and knowing that this planet was inhabited; he had to stay on his toes and tread carefully. Upon showing the data tether of Magos Sicarius, he was able to easily gain command of the war cohort. He checked out the damage to the cohort.

Three quarters of a combat maniple was lost due to the destruction. One of the armories containing special wargear was destroyed. Four Onager Dune-crawlers were severely damaged, with a Macrocarid Explorator wrecked. However, they were still a very formidable force to be reckoned with. They had 3 whole maniples, extremely rare variants of Leman Russ tanks with Mechanicus exclusive patterns and finally, an Imperial Knight.

He ordered his men to form a defensive perimeter around the downed ship, as well as sending some of them on scouting duties while the rest of the Skitarii awaken from their stasis and get their vehicles back in operation. "I want tight fire discipline!" Alcatraz ordered to all his Alphas as he briefed them. "We don't want the local populace to be against us and we probably already spooked them out. Exterminate only when hostile."

"Yes my lord. We will do as we are told." His Alphas replied, in perfect harmony, clicking their heels.

* * *

 **Avarosan Ranger Party**

The Avarosans has sent 30 men to investigate the crash site. Upon reaching a good vantage point, around three to four kilometers from the crash site facing the ship stern side, the smoke from the ship finally subsided. The ranger captain was experienced and wary in getting too close, instead opting to scout out from a distance while the sun still shone.

He peered through a spyglass, marveling out loud on how big this thing was. "By the gods! Its around one and a half kilometers long and half a kilometer across! Its even bigger than any building I have ever seen!"

"Anything else striking besides its size?" one of his compatriots said nonchalantly. "Everyone already knows it pretty damn big."

"Yeah. It looks like its made out of pure metal. It also sports a really weird looking insignia, a skull with a gear circling it. It also has to be carrying a lot of things in it." He continued on. "Wait, I see movement down below."

He could make out a huge mass of troopers pouring out of the ship, armed with some sort of firearms. As he was surveying their movements, a pair of glowing blue eyes shot back to his direction, seemingly peering directly into his spyglass. He was mortified by a while then he quickly turned to his comrades.

"Ah shit! Our position is compromised! We have to move now!" he and his men quickly moved out as they alerted the Skitarii of their presence.

On the way of the retreat, they came across another scouting party, the war band was 100 strong. They were from the Winter's Claw. A large spaceship crashing down in the Freljord during the summer where the skies were quite clear was pretty hard to miss. Sejuani was also alerted by this and sent a war party to scout the crash as well.

"The Winter's Claw is here as well! Everyone stay down!" The ranger captain and his men quickly crouched down, observing their foes. "I don't think they know we are here. Stay silent and we slip pass-"

An arrow whizzed pass by him, piercing the throat of one of his men. The unlucky woman fell down to the ground, clutching her throat in pain, choking in her own blood. "Bastards! Return fire men!"

The Avarosan rangers had more expertise in archery, better cover and slight elevation advantage than the Winter's Claw scouts.

"Volley!"

They let loose their bows, skewering around seven of the enemy scouts, turning them into pin cushions, their screams of agony echoing. The enemy scouts quickly returned fire, but much less successful. After five minutes of fighting with the Avarosans, the Winter's Claw leader knew that they would lose trying to out skirmish the rangers, with every enemy volley reaping more casualties among them. At this rate their numbers advantage would be easily lost.

"Half of you with me! We move from cover to cover! The rest of you cover our advance!" She barked to her remaining men as they proceeded to charge towards the Avarosan rangers.

Catching wind of this, the ranger captain quickly instructed his men to ignore the enemy archers. "Focus your fire on the ones charging at us!" He said as he let lose another arrow, hitting the eye of an enemy warrior grunting as he tumbled back down.

The cover provided by the pines proved quite effective however, and the Winter's Claw were slowly closing the distance between them. The ranger captain could either break into a melee, betting on their superior experience and casualties caused. However, melee was not their forte and they would be engaging those warriors at what they do best, chopping heads off.

He could opt to run away, but that means they would be easy pickings for the enemy archers and the warriors would no doubt pursue them. He decided if they were to go down, they will go down fighting.

 _Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud._

Both parties stopped fighting momentarily just before they engage in melee as they heard a loud stomping sound every other heartbeat, rattling the pine trees.

"What in the gods name is that?"

 _Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud._

The stomping sound was growing louder every time. It was coming closer. Suddenly they spot smoking covering some hard to make out silhouettes. The Avarosan rangers and the Winter's Claw scouts had a silent mutual agreement that formed a truce between them.

 _Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud._

"Prepare volley!" The captain ordered his remaining men. "Aim towards the smoke!" All of them were starting to sweat profusely, even if it was two degrees below freezing. The anticipation of the unknown horror that was approaching them was nerve wracking.

 _Thud. Thud. THUD. THUD._

"Brace yourselves! Here they come!" The Winter's Claw captain shouted, palms sweating.

 _THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD._

Out of the smoke came out four Sydonian Dragoons bursting through with incredible speed. They were sent by Enginseer Alcatraz to investigate the unknown perpetrators after one of the Skitarii reported seeing people spying on them. '

"Volley!" The ranger captain ordered. Sadly, this action proved to be their doom. The Sydonian Dragoons were there to merely investigate and was under direct orders not to attack unless the locals retaliated. Unfortunately, the act of sending a volley of projectiles towards the Dragoons was seen as an open act of hostility.

"Natives proved hostile. 93 signatures sighted. Commencing extermination." The lead Dragoon continued to give orders to his comrades. "Divide and conquer. The two of you hit their right flank, Balthasar, stick with me. Death to the Omnissiah's enemies. OORAH!"

It was a massacre. The Ironstrider engines kicked, stomped and trampled men to the ground, crushing their bones and flattening their bodies, their internal organs bursting out.

Their moral waned, seeing fully armored men mounted on top of mechanized striders, treating their comrades like ragdolls. None of their weaponry even seemed to affect these monsters in any way, not so much as a scratch.

The Dragoons were merciless, shooting people with Phosphor Serpentas, their unfortunate targets' bodies immolating with a blinding flash of white light, leaving behind the remains of charred bone.

Those foolish enough to stand ground and fight with melee weapons were quickly prodded with Taser Lances. Discharging scorching blasts of such electrical energy that their victims had their skins completely flayed off, their eyeballs popping, fat rendered, insides baked and blood boiled leaving behind a bloody mangled mess of a corpse. Such was the power of the Taser Lances that anyone several feet near the primary target had the same electric power arcing to them, suffering same horrible fates.

The snow was quickly stained with blood and the ground was littered with singed skeletons, slag, mangled and cooked corpses.

Moral quickly wavered and everyone ran for their lives, but once a target of the Sydonian Dragoons, there was no escaping and they had no chance against them. The Ironstrider Engine's speed was blazing fast, allowing the Dragoons to easily run down all the stragglers and poor souls trying to live another day.

Just before being overrun, the Avarosan ranger captain was able to send vital information back to Rakelstake through a messenger raven and a hastily written note.

Seeing the bird fly away, he closed his eyes, knowing the end awaited him. _So this is how it ends-_ his thought being ended abruptly after his skull was crushed by an Ironstrider.

* * *

Author's Notes: My longest chapter so far. I think I put quite a bit of effort into it. I hope you guys liked it! Sorry it took a while to post this one. I was quite busy with work as I had a deadline this week. Again, I want to know your thoughts, so post reviews or PM me.

I also hope you are ready for more Mechanicum stomping, especially with that sexy Imperial Knight!


	6. Freljordan Arc 1: Probe

**Rakelstake Palace - Three days later**

The Demacian host has arrived in Rakelstake, with a force of 24,000 Legionaries and 6000 Dauntless Vanguard along with a few bombards and siege equipment led none other than Prince Jarvan IV himself and his retinue. It was a "small" force compared to what the full might of Demacia can field, but still sizable nonetheless.

Prince Jarvan's retinue consisted of 8 of his personal bodyguards, Quinn the Pathfinder, the Crownguard siblings and Shyvana the Half Dragon.

Piltover's Finest also came to the Avarosans aid with two thousand men armed with breech loading firelock rifles, with Jinx the Loose Cannon tagging along with them to their dismay. More importantly, they brought with them steam powered machine guns.

The current situation in the Freljord was becoming more and more unstable as the time passes by. The Institute of War seems to have little concern in stopping a full blown war happening in the North. The involvement of Noxian General, Jericho Swain was confirmed a day ago and meant that Noxus High Command has deemed the conflict very important. The number of troops massing on the border has doubled since the past week, with war machines and cannon provided by the Zaunites.

On top of all this, an unknown object has crashed down from the heavens into the woods bordering Rakelstake. The message Queen Ashe received from the ranger captain was harrowing and deeply troubled her. She had called for the Demacian and Piltovian representatives as well as her warlords for a second emergency war council this week.

* * *

"Excuse me for being quite blunt, but we don't have the time for formalities. We should get started as soon as possible." Queen Ashe started the war council with a stern expression and an air of authority.

Everyone in the room immediately stopped conversations with each other and took their respective seats. "Aww! You're no fun to b-" Jinx said before Vi instinctively gagged Jinx's mouth with her hands.

"I would shut up if I were you, unless you want to be cut in half by Tryndy here." Vi whispered closely to Jinx's ear as the Barbarian King was looking quite displeased.

"I am terribly sorry for her actions your royal majesty." Caitlyn apologized quickly for the actions of Jinx. "We had to bring her along so she doesn't go insane and start blowing up the city." She quickly added.

"Enough of this. Guards, take her to the dungeons to prevent further interruptions." Tryndamere signaled for two huscarls to restrain Jinx and take her down to the cells.

With that conundrum out of the way, Queen Ashe broke the monotony in the room. "I have called you all here for one thing. Three days ago something massive just fell out of the heavens in flames and proceeded to crash down the forest not too far from Rakelstake. Normally, this would just be a freak incident with a meteor falling down to the earth but this time, it is different."

She briefly recomposed herself, trying to describe accurately what she saw. "This was object was clearly not made out of stone, but of metal. It was clearly glistening in the sun and it had very angular shapes. It's form is definitely not natural and I can say without a doubt that it was artificially made."

The warlords nodded their heads in approval, these warlords being the same ones who had witnessed the jaw dropping scene in the first war council.

Ashe continued on with her story. "This thing is _massive_. It was the largest man made object I have ever seen. It is probably larger than this palace itself. To think it was created by people and it took to such altitudes much higher up than the clouds, it truly is a marvel."

Caitlyn and Vi quickly glanced at each other upon hearing the Queen's words. They didn't like where this was going. The Demacian delegates, however, simply looked unimpressed upon hearing this.

Realizing that she was going off topic, Ashe decided to go back on track. "There is no nation or city-state in Valoran that I can think off that could have created such a thing. Naturally, I sent a scouting party to investigate their crash and only a messenger raven returned. I fear that this does not bode well for all of us."

She began reading the contents of the letter aloud for everyone in the room to hear.

 _This is Ranger Captain Albrekt reporting._

 _We have scouted the foreign object. It is around two kilometers in length, half a kilometer across, half a kilometer tall. It is made out of pure metal and is certainly massive._

 _Its structure is roughly in the same fashion as a maritime vessel, with a large angular prow on its front, with a tapered middle section and bulks up again upon reaching its stern. The top of the stern is and parts of its middle section has been devastated, presumably from the crash._

 _Upon closer inspection, the vessel sports an interesting insignia on its hull, none that I know off. It is a skull, half human, half machine with a gear encircling the whole thing._

 _We have spotted people wearing red hooded robes, cannot determine yet if friendly or hostile._

The following lines were written with markedly poorer hand writing, presumably rushing to finish the report.

 _Our position was compromised, and these robed people have spotted us. We have made our way back to the city until we came across a Winter's Claw scouting party._

 _While we were doing battle, the foreigners came for us out of nowhere, riding in mechanized constructs with weapons I have never seen before. As I write this they are currently killing off everyone, Winter's Claw and Avarosan alike. They are definitely hostile._

 _Be warned my queen._

"I have sent additional rangers to investigate since then, but none of them have ever returned." Ashe's demeanor changed to something much more serious. "I fear that these outsiders herald something far more sinister. I have contacted the Institute of War about this, but I have yet to receive a reply."

The Piltovian's faces quickly soured and fear resonated from them after hearing the contents of the letter. Their speculations were proven to be true.

"Cait, this can't be a coincidence! I knew that Salazar guy was planning on doing something!" Vi blurted out suddenly.

"Please excuse my partner of the sudden outburst your highness, but we have enough evidence to believe that we have already met these _people._ " Caitlyn, glared at Vi, making her remember that they were still in presence of royalty.

"You said you have met them? How could that be possible if they just came here three days ago?" Tryndamere quickly noted.

"We did not meet with them per se, but we know who these guys are and what they are capable of doing." All eyes were on Caitlyn, silently begging her to recount what had happened in Piltover.

With their silent approval to continue on, she proceeded to tell them what had happened. "About a week ago, an unknown vessel crashed into Piltover, similar to what has happened here. Granted, it was much smaller than the ship described in the letter, but it also sported the very same insignia. A partly machine skull encircled by a gear."

"We have met with one of these red robed _men_ personally. His name was Salazar Biachenko, Explorator Enginseer Acula of the Adeptus Mechanicus if my memory serves me right."

"This Mechanicus you speak of, what are they?" Prince Jarvan was silent for the whole meeting except now. "What are they planning on doing?" He inquired.

"Frankly, I don't really know much about the Adeptus Mechanicus. All I know is they are not from this world and they have come from the stars to get here. All their members also look alot like Viktor, their limbs completely replaced with metal appendages and are partly machine. What they plan on doing, I don't know. But it cant be good."

Ashe was quickly able to put the pieces together in her head. "That explains why the Institute has ignored the conflict here. If this Adeptus Mechanicus is more important than the conflict here in the Freljord for the summoners, this must mean that they should not be trifled with."

"Then we should pool our might and attack them while they are unprepared! As much as I hate dealing with _that_ woman, we have to send word to the Winter's Claw and their allies about this new enemy." Tryndamere said, with the intent of getting rid of this threat at once.

Garen was with the Barbarian King. This new threat poses a great risk and needs to be taken of immediately. "Agreed. If we could band our forces together, they wouldn't stand a chance. If we let them go by unchecked, who knows what they will do?"

Both Prince Jarvan and Queen Ashe thought this was the best course of action. However the Piltovians knew otherwise, experiencing firsthand what their new adversaries were capable of doing.

"You guys have no idea what you are going up against. It only took them three dozen men to starting killing hundreds of police officers. All of our firepower combined barely did anything to them." Vi told them quite curtly, much to the protests of Caitlyn.

The room died down a bit after such an outburst. Vi's voice toned down to regular speech. "I went up against this Salazar guy and landed so much blows enough to kill people outright and it didn't do so much as to dent his armor. I would have been sliced in two if Jayce didn't come and help me."

Such feat was unheard of before. No armor has been able to withstand the fury of the Enforcer's punches. Even spirit forged plate from the Shadow Isles proved to be no match for the infamous denting blows. In the League, Vi was one of the most powerful melee combatants, that even the Hand of Noxus and the Might of Demacia had to be extremely wary in facing her.

For an opponent to take numerous blows from Vi and have his armor still intact was already impressive, but being able to defeat the Enforcer without much as breaking a sweat was taking it to the extreme.

Caitlyn backed her partner up with words of her own. "What she says is true. The Adeptus Mechanicus should not be underestimated. Their durability is unheard of, and they wield weapons with terrifying amounts of power. Three dozen men soundly slaughtered our men, and they would have killed us all if not for more reinforcements arriving on time."

She continued on, driving the point home. "They have done what we could not even imagine, to travel the stars and other worlds. The men we faced were merely regular foot soldiers for them, and they probably have thousands of them and other machines of destruction."

Prince Jarvan realized that an assault against them would prove very costly, and would probably end up in disaster. "The Piltovians are right. We shouldn't act brashly. We need to collect more data on these outsiders, prepare our armies, wait for the Institute's final word. If we act out now, we might make things even worse for us."

Queen Ashe agreed and has decided to side with caution on this one. "Very well. As much as I hate it we still need to tell Sejuani about this new threat. If we go to war with each other, no doubt we will be severely weakened and it might give this Mechanicus an opportunity to strike us down.

"Hopefully the memo goes through that thick head of hers." She muttered beneath her breath.

"I will have Quinn and her rangers here collect more information about this Mechanicus." Prince Jarvan said as he turned to face Quinn. "I will also have to request my father to send more troops down here in the Freljord."

"We have to all stay vigil for the days to come. I'll see if I can convince the mayor to provide more aid down here, perhaps send us some cannon as well."

* * *

 **Forlorn Mars**

With the arrival of Salazar Biachenko's maniple and the recovery and repairs on the cohort's wargear, the Adeptus Mechanicus was ready to make their move. Enginseer Alcatraz has called for a meeting with all the remaining senior tech-priests and Salazar. Their next course of action will be absolutely crucial to their future.

As much as they hate to admit it, they need more information about this world and the support of its local populace. Their sensitive communications equipment are either destroyed from the crashes or inadequate for interstellar messenging, they had no Astropaths with them and finally, they do not have the resources to create a fleet beacon or make proper vox relays.

If they were to succeed in their goals, they would need to sway the people in their favor. Either through peace or through violence.

While Enginseer Alcatraz was promoted by Magos Sicarius to Master of Skitarii, he knows that Enginseer Salazar was a far more senior member of the Cult Mechanicus and much more experienced in warmongering and politics himself with a century worth of servitude in the Legio Skitarii as a Tribune member.

After all, Alcatraz was basically just the chief transmechanic of the Forlorn Mars while Salazar was already an aspirant ruler, second in rank only to a Magos.

In fact, Salazar Biachenko's prowess and ability was recognized by the ruling cult members of Ryza and was sent by the Fabricator General of the said forge world himself to be part of the Ryzan representative to the Explorator Fleet. He was given an entire cohort to lead with his personal maniple and retinue accompanying him.

The Maximus Crusade was supposed to be one of the first ships to reach the Space Hulk with the orders to secure a foothold for the rest of the Explorator Fleet to get on. If he survived the initial contact and was successful in his task, Salazar was going to be promoted to Magos Dominus position. Alas, the series of unfortunate events prevents him from attaining glory.

Enginseer Alcatraz fully recognizes Salazar's seniority and authority over him. His promotion was of circumstance, and was not really official. As such, he has transferred the command over the Skitarii and handed the data tether of Magos Sicarius to Salazar as command protocol dictates him to do so.

Salazar had to give credit to the Tech-priest Majoris. Handing over command of troops without ordering him to do so was quite astonishing to say the least. "Thank you brother Alcatraz. Not many are so willing to give up their elevated positions so easily without _persuasion_."

"You give me too much credit my lord. I am merely a humble servant of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and it is my duty to give authority to the rightful one."

Salazar needed to know his resources and capabilities before acting out. Knowledge is power after all.

"I am aware that recovery and repairs has been made in order to achieve full combat efficiency. What precisely is the full combat strength of this cohort?"

"We have 3 full strength battle maniples, with one sustaining 80% casualties due to the crash landing." Alcatraz then remembered that this was no regular Skitarii Legion. The 47th Legio Sicarius was a cavalry legion and had access to the best armor the Adeptus Mechanicus can offer as well as sworn Imperial Knights under their fold.

"It is worth noting my lord that one maniple consists entirely of the Cataphractii Vanguard with a Ballisterai Detatchment, and are equipped with Leman Russes, Krios Battle Tanks, Minotaurs and a Knight Crusader piloted by Scion Galahad. All of the other infantry maniples also have more Ironstriders and Dunecrawlers than average and have dedicated troop transports."

Of course, said Leman Russes are of the rare Mars Alpha Pattern. They boasted enhanced communications and targeting, additional hull structure, co-axial weapons, better engines, Cognis weaponry, damage control systems, auto loaders and improved main guns supplied with exotic ammunition.

Such a sight in the Imperial Guard was reserved only for the best tank aces and revered command vehicles. Imperial commanders can only dream of having a whole battalion of such tanks.

Topping it all off, he had access to Minatours with Phosphex shells, mechanized infantry and a Knight. Even whole Imperial Armies and Eldar war hosts will be awed with such firepower. Salazar was impressed quite frankly.

"Are the troops and their machines all prepared and ready?" Salazar inquired.

"The activation ceremony and warding rituals for the Knight Crusader is being carried on as I speak my lord. Aside from that, the men are combat ready."

Salazar knew that he had more than enough to be able to conquer this backwoods feudal world. His plan was simple. Sway the locals by diplomacy first, then war if needed. Create a fleet beacon, and convert this planet into a forge world for the Mechanicus.

"My fellow servants of the Omnissiah, our plan is simple. We take this planet either through peace or through force. This world is quite remarkable. For a feudal world, they have advanced very well and have rediscovered such archaic gunpowder."

"That is hardly a feat. I know some feudal worlds that have also attained the same level of progress." Alcatraz pointed out.

Salazar took his map of Runeterra and pointed at Piltover. "This city we crashed in had mechanized automatons, vehicles and _very_ interesting warp-based technologies that I have never seen in the Imperium. That level of advancement is far beyond gunpower. Their population density is also much bigger than that of all other Feudal worlds. Based on my estimations, that city houses around 10,000,000 people. I highly suspect that they have a STC blueprint, or Omnissiah be praised; a partially working one."

Salazar's fellow Enginseers confirmed this. A feudal world with such advancement has never been discovered. They likely have blueprints or even a functioning one. This kind of revelation excited everyone in the meeting.

"We go back to Piltover, purge out the xenos, find out if they have a STC, bring them under our fold and construct a fleet beacon." He said with absolute resolve. Everyone in the room silently agreed with his simple, fool proof plan.

"There is one thing that worries me lord." Alcatraz spoke up. "Before crashing, we have sensed a powerful warp presence in this world. Psykers might be rampant."

"Ah yes. We had a run in with a psyker who was able to unleash the power of the air against us." He then points to the Institute of War. He reads the footnote inscribed. "The Institute of War hosts the League of Legends. Powerful and remarkable individuals from all places of Valoran who fight in matches are called 'champions.' The Insitute is lead by the High Summoner with her subordinate summoners as surrogates for champions in these matches."

"So this so called Institute holds jurisdiction over the whole planet? Then we should eliminate them first." Alcatraz thought that cutting the head of the snake is the utmost concern.

"Yes, yes, but we take things step by step. I believe that this Institute oversees this world. I also speculate that these 'summoners' and 'champions' are made up of psykers. But our main goal here is to recover any archaeotech after all, our priority is to secure technology. We can enquirer more about this Institute and its capabilities after we take Piltover then we destroy the Institute and its champions. "

"Excuse me for questioning your decision my lord. Your reasoning is without fail." Alcatraz was embarrassed by talking back at his superior.

"Do not trouble yourself. You merely wanted to help us all."

Salazar decided to end the meeting. "Any more objections or suggestions?" He looked at all the others present in the room, but they shook their heads. "Very well. This concludes our discussions. Be prepared to mobilize, we are leaving at dawn next day." He stood up and everyone else followed suite.

As Alcatraz was leaving the room, about to prepare the Skitarii, Salazar got his attention. "Enginseer Alcatraz."

"Yes my lord?" He was nervous if he offended the senior tech-priest during the meeting.

"I see why the Magos has trusted you with his cohort and ship. You readily gave up your position as Master of Skitarii, and were the only one actively participating in our discussion. You have remained cordial and respectful to everyone. For this servitude I will be rewarding you with a place in my personal retinue. Will you accept this Enginseer Alcatraz?"

Alcatraz was overwhelmed by such a sudden proposition. "Yes my lord. I will gladly accept."

"Very good brother. I'll see you in the morning."

* * *

 **Woods surrounding the Forlorn Mars**

Sejuani was infuriated after hearing that her men were killed by these unknown assailants. Due to the war loving nature of her tribe and their Noxian allies, they decided to sally forth and destroy or assimilate these outsiders. Unfortunately for them, they lacked the hindsight and the knowledge of the Piltovians' encounter with the Adeptus Mechanicus.

They marched their combined armies into the woods, thinking that they would reign supreme. Their delusion was to prove their undoing.

Leading the assault was the Winter's Claw elite lead by Sejuani, Udyr, Olaf and his berserkers as well as the best ursines with Volibear himself. Viktor has decided to take a more supportive role, leading his men to provide ranged firepower in the form of cannon and guns. With the Noxians following behind the Winter's Claw vanguard.

The heavy footfalls of the army were reverberating through out the forest. Upon reaching the foothills of the Ironspike mountains by dusk, they set up their cannon and war machines. Upon cresting over the hills, there they saw the tech guard, ever so silent and vigil. Their eerie blue eyes glowing ever so faintly in the dark. Alongside with them were their tanks and machines of war.

The sight was impressive, even for someone like Viktor. Their enemies fielded lumbering automatons that dwarfed his creations.

"Form ranks! Archers draw!" Sejuani barked, remaining unfazed by this. The archers immediately complied and readied their bows. The rest of her men started tensing up, throwing insults and barbaric shouts. But no reaction was found from the enemy.

The Grand Commander of Noxus has ordered their musketeers and crossbowmen to do the same. "Arms! Make ready phalanxes! We charge after the volley!" He knew better than to rush blindly, for they do not know the capabilities of their enemy.

Darius and Draven has been itching for a good fight. "We shall slaughter these dogs! To anyone who gives me their heads, they will be rewarded appropriately!" They were licking their lips in bloodlust.

The detachment of Noxian assassins were lead by the Sinister Blade herself and Talon. Their orders were to slip past the enemy lines in the ensuing chaos and take out key assets and commanders.

The war cries and taunting of an army 200,000 strong was deafening. Yet, the enemy did not even flinch or move. Not even as to throw back their own insults. They stood their in formation unmoved. Sejuani's army was getting quite impatient of waiting.

Unknown to all of them, Quinn was watching the whole thing unfold in the nearby pine trees. "Oh no, this is bad. Just turn tail and run!" she thought to herself. She desperately wanted to act but she knew it was in vain. She might get killed herself if she breaks her cover. She just had to stay put and observe. After all, it would also provide her with critical data about the Adeptus Mechanicus' full combat capabilities.

Salazar and the tech-priests have personally went out of the Forlorn Mars after hearing such loud commotion coming from the hills. Upon seeing the enemy host he was quite unimpressed. He has lead his men against Tyranids, Greenskins and heretics. This is just child's play to him.

"These savages only know one thing. War. If they want a war, so be it. We eliminate them with extreme prejudice."

He has ordered the Skitarii war cohort to engage the enemy through his data tether. Starting of the hostilities was the roaring barrage of 125mm Thermobaric Battle Cannon rounds.

* * *

Author's notes:

Hope you enjoyed this one. I know you guys are excited to see more action, but don't worry. The next chapter will be all the bloodshed we want. :)

I have decided to release chapters with a minimum of 4k words instead of 2k words. Took me a week to write this down as I am busy watching the DotA 2 Manila Majors and playing Overwatch. The next chapter will hopefully come faster.

Ive also decided to highball Valoran's population estimates to put it more in line with the Warhammer 40k setting.


End file.
